I Need You
by Follow-The-Firefly
Summary: Axel was only supposed to be gone for a week. When he's gone for more than two months, Roxas starts to fall apart. Rated T for Teen. oneshot


**Disclaimer: Do you REALLY think this would happen?**

**Hallo! It's Mika-chan! This was originally part of Organization XIII: TSTNW, but I decided to make it a oneshot! Some things have obviously changed, but the concept is the same. Anyway, let the deadly tale begin!**

The sky was an ominous shade of black as Roxas waited alone in Memory's Skyscraper. The Key of Destiny was dreading what he knew was to come. Axel, number VIII in the Organization and his boyfriend, was leaving for a weeklong mission in Hollow Bastion and Traverse Town. The Flurry of Dancing Flames was to scout out information on Ansem the Wise and Sora, the Keyblade Master, and present this information to Xemnas. Roxas couldn't see why obtaining this information would take so long, but there was usually reason for Xemnas' madness.

A clap of thunder sounded just above him, but Roxas took no notice. Knowing that he would be miserable being apart from his boyfriend, Xemnas had assigned Roxas to go to the Land of Dragons and eliminate Heartless to add to Kingdom Hearts. It would keep Roxas busy for a while, but he knew that Axel would always be on his mind.

He was about to go back into the Castle to see what was taking Axel so long when the pyro made his entrance. He was no happier about the mission than Roxas was, but both knew that it had to be done.

"Don't get yourself killed, okay?" Roxas said, looking up into Axel's peridot eyes.

"Same for you." Axel said, ruffling Roxas' blonde hair. "Remember when Zexion almost faded during an elimination mission?"

"That was because he was up against thousands of Dusks and Neoshadows." Roxas pointed out.

"But it's still serious." Axel said. "Besides, I'll only be gone a week. You won't have time to miss me."

"I miss you already." Roxas said.

"Come on, Roxas. It's not like I'm never going to see you again." Axel said, wrapping his arms around his smaller lover. "I'm coming back."

"I know." Roxas said, knowing he sounded stupid.

"I'd better get going. You know how Xemnas can get." Axel said.

"Yeah, don't want him to get on our case." Roxas nodded.

"I'll see you in a bit." Axel said as he created the usually portal of sandy blackness.

"See you soon." Roxas said, watching his boyfriend walk through the portal.

He eventually made a portal of his own and walked through it to find himself in the Land of Dragons. For one reason or another, he found himself face to face with Xigbar, who was supposed to be in the Space Paranoids.

"What are you doing here, Xigbar?" Roxas frowned as he summoned Oblivion.

"Xemnas said that I should come here to eliminate Heartless." Xigbar said, shouldering his weapon.

"But he just told me to come here." Roxas said.

"Huh. I guess he forgot." Xigbar was always carefree with just about everything. "Ah well. It'll go faster if we both take 'em on."

"You said it." Roxas grinned before dashing after a Silver Rock.

It took a few hours to destroy all of the Heartless in the Land of Dragons. Some very pesky Hook Bats kept showing up with some Driller Moles that caused a lot of problems. Xigbar, happy to have an occasion to use his gun, shot the Heartless almost instantaneously.

When the Heartless were nowhere to be seen, Roxas and Xigbar made their way back to the World That Never Was, where Xemnas was about to hold a meeting in the Room Where Nothing Gathers. It was a rare day when the Superior of the Organization held a meeting without all of the members present, so the contents of the meeting must be important.

Upon entering the room, Roxas' cerulean eyes found the usual scene in the Room Where Nothing Gathers. The nonsensically high chairs were filled with the other members of Organization XIII. Xemnas sat higher than anyone else since he was the Superior, but the height of the other chairs varied. Roxas' was a bit lower than the other's, but that was only because he hadn't carried out as many missions since he was the newest in the Organization.

Axel wasn't the only one missing from the room. Luxord was in Port Royal on a Heartless elimination mission and Xaldin was in Twilight Town trying to find information on Kingdom Hearts. Without the three Nobodies, the room was quieter than it usually was.

Roxas walked over to his chair and sat down, waiting for Xemnas to speak. Xemnas had a tendency to drone on and on for several hours, but the Nobodies couldn't fall asleep or severe punishment would be given.

"Is everyone present?" Xemnas began. "Or should I say everyone that is supposed to be here?"

"Yes." Vexen answered without enthusiasm.

"So what is this meeting about today, Superior?" Marluxia questioned.

"Saix has determined that we are not far away from achieving our goal." Xemnas continued.

Roxas tuned out the Superior and started focusing on his thoughts. Xemnas always said that they were close to achieving their goal. So often, in fact, that he had stopped believing it. And what was the goal of Organization XIII? To get hearts.

It was common knowledge that Nobodies had no hearts. That had already been determined by Ansem the Wise, a brilliant scientist and a mentor to Xehanort, Xemnas' other.

Xehanort had wanted to experiment on hearts and the doors to the other worlds. When Ansem rejected this proposal, Xehanort turned himself into a Heartless. He was joined by his other scientists: Briag, Dilan, Even, Aeleus and Ienzo. When the scientists became Nobodies, they changed their names and became Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus and Zexion. Xehanort took Ansem's name before he turned into a Heartless. When this change was complete, he became Xemnas. The six Nobodies were the first members of Organization XIII, a group of elite Nobodies set on world domination. But they lacked one thing: a heart.

And Kingdom Hearts would help them obtain a heart. Or so though Xemnas. Some of the members of the Organization thought otherwise. Demyx, Roxas and Axel believed that they did have hearts. How else could Larxene be so sadistic? Demyx couldn't be as cheerful if he didn't have a heart. And how could Roxas and Axel possibly be so in love with one another if they had no heart? In Xemnas' opinion, Nobodies had no hearts, which meant no emotion.

But having no heart also meant that they were incomplete. By obtaining a heart, Organization XIII could be whole, which was what Xemnas was aiming for. They wouldn't have to be the shadow of someone, the shadow of their former selves. They could be their own person.

While Xemnas droned on about Kingdom Hearts, Roxas was thinking about how pointless it was. He couldn't see any way that they could become whole. Not unless they merged with their original selves. Roxas knew that this was his fate. He would have to merge with Sora, his other, so the latter could defeat Organization XIII.

But Roxas didn't want that to happen. True, he hated being in the Organization, but he felt like he belonged there. He'd made friends, which was something he couldn't have done if he hadn't been discovered by Xemnas. He'd never have met Demyx, Xigbar, Zexion…he wouldn't have met Axel.

And being in Organization XIII was the only thing that he knew. From the moment he became a Nobody, Roxas had been in the Organization. He'd never known how other Nobodies lived, how they died. And he could have been one of those Nobodies.

Roxas was made aware that the meeting was over when he heard Marluxia jump down from his chair and hit the ivory tile below him. The meeting must not have taken that long. Jumping down from his chair, Roxas followed the rest of the Organization out of the room and headed to Crooked Ascension, trying not to think of Axel too much.

* * *

A week went by quickly for Roxas. He was kept busy by Xemnas, who sent him on various missions. He went with Xaldin and Marluxia to Agrabah to eliminate some troublesome viziers. He tagged along when Demyx went to Atlantica to find a particular chemical for one of Vexen's experiments. He even went along to the Beast's Castle with Saix when the Luna Diviner needed to destroy a map of the World That Never Was. But Axel was always in the back of his mind and certainly never far from his thoughts.

A week after Axel's departure, Roxas decided to wait outside Nothing's Call for the pyro's return. He was waiting for well over three hours before he was needed in Havoc's Divide. Maybe Axel was held up by something and couldn't return on time. Axel certainly wouldn't be late on purpose.

But two weeks after Axel was supposed to return, there was still no sign of the Flurry of Dancing Flames. All of the Organization was confused. Axel, like Xigbar, didn't like to go on missions very much and didn't stay on one longer than absolutely necessary. Something must have happened to him.

Even though everyone was thinking it, they made sure not to say it when in the presence of Roxas. The Key of Destiny was starting loose his mind from worry. Axel, after all, would never leave Roxas if he could help it. Since he'd been gone for several weeks, it was almost certain that Axel had faded.

Marluxia was walking up from the Proof of Existence to Addled Impasse when he saw Roxas leaning against the wall, staring at the ceiling. Knowing that this was a peculiar thing for the Key of Destiny to do, Marluxia walked over to the blonde and said, "You okay, Roxas?"

Roxas didn't reply. Instead, he shook his head, but it looked more like the blonde was halfway between having a seizure and an advanced case of Schizophrenia.

"What's wrong?" Marluxia knelt down next to the neophyte.

"Where's the fire?" Roxas asked, though Marluxia could tell that there was something different about Roxas' voice.

"What are you talking about, Roxas?" Marluxia frowned. "There's no fire."

"No! Where's the fire?" Roxas demanded. "Where is he?"

He? That didn't make any sense. Fire couldn't have a gender; it wasn't a living thing and Roxas knew this. So what was he talking about? Marluxia had no idea until he thought about the recent events that had troubled the residents of the Castle That Never Was.

Roxas was talking about Axel.

Of course! Fire was Axel's element, which explained why Roxas asked where the fire was. He wanted to know why Axel wasn't back yet.

As soon as he understood, Marluxia realized how serious the situation had become. Roxas never acted like this, it just wasn't something Roxas would do. Being apart from Axel must've been like hell for him.

"I don't know, Roxas." Marluxia told him.

"I need to find him." Roxas tried to run off, but Marluxia grabbed him and held him in place. "I need to find him!"

"We'll find him. Xemnas just sent Saix out to look for him." Marluxia assured him. "And Demyx has been looking for a while, too."

"It's my fault…" Roxas said sadly.

"No, it's not, Roxas." Marluxia said gently. "There's no way that this is your fault."

But Roxas kept rambling on, trying to break free from Marluxia's grasp. Marluxia realized that Xemnas had to know how bad Roxas' condition was. After Zexion wandered into the room, Marluxia took off for the Room Where Nothing Gathers to tell Xemnas that Roxas was slipping.

* * *

Roxas kept growing worse. By the end of the day, he was making no sense whatsoever. He kept talking about how the peaches needed to stop the lampshades from attacking the prune juice. He would ask where the fire was often, which nobody found surprising.

The curious thing was that no one could find any trace of the Flurry of Dancing Flames. It was as if he'd vanished without a trace. They found no sign of a fight between the fire manipulator and another person, nor did they find his chakram lying somewhere. Demyx had searched Hollow Bastion three times over but to no avail.

Almost two months after Axel's disappearance, Xigbar was sitting with Roxas in Havoc's Divide, telling him about the fight between Larxene and Zexion. Roxas seemed to calm down a bit when someone else was doing the talking, so the Organization decided it was a good idea to fill him in on what was going on.

While he was describing how Zexion had dodged a knife Larxene had flung at his head, Xigbar heard his name being shouted from somewhere in the Castle. It was Demyx, which didn't surprise Xigbar in the least. But Demyx didn't sound annoyed or overly cheerful. He sounded anxious, like he'd discovered something dreadfully important.

"What is it, Demyx?" Xigbar called.

"I found Axel!" Demyx called back.

"Seriously?!" Xigbar questioned, noticing how Roxas perked up upon hearing his boyfriend's name.

"Yeah! Where's Roxas?" Demyx questioned.

"We're in Havoc's Divide!" Xigbar shouted.

"Meet us in the Proof of Existence!" Demyx yelled.

"Got it!" Xigbar yelled before turning to Roxas and saying, "Roxas, I need to leave for a little bit. But I'll be back, okay?"

"Okay…" Roxas said. "But can you tell the shoe that the GameCube wants the celery?"

"No problem." Xigbar smiled and walked out of the room.

When he entered the Proof of Existence, Xigbar found what could be the most unusual sight he'd seen. Demyx was dragging Axel into the room by his ear, which was strange because Axel was a good three inches taller than the Melodious Nocturne. The Flurry of Dancing Flames was protesting this quite loudly, but Demyx wasn't giving in.

"Where the hell were you, Axel?" Xigbar demanded.

"I was stalking an informant. He was talking to some other dude about Ansem, so I thought it was a good idea to follow him." Axel said. "And I'm glad I did, because I found out some important stuff."

"Does he know about Roxas yet?" Xigbar asked.

"Roxas?" Axel instantly looked terrified. "What's wrong with him?"

"I hadn't gotten around to telling him yet." Demyx said, finally releasing Axel's ear.

"Roxas has gone insane." Xigbar said bluntly.

"Are you serious?!" Axel gaped incredulously at II and IX.

"We have no idea what caused it, though." Demyx said.

"No, Vexen thinks its because Axel was gone for so long." Xigbar corrected the Melodious Nocturne.

"Is he okay?" Axel demanded. "He's not going to fade, is he?"

"No, of course not." Xigbar said.

"But he might not be completely normal when he sees you." Demyx was more serious than either of the other two Nobodies had ever seen him.

"What's wrong with him?" Axel questioned.

"He keeps saying the most random things and tries to attack people." Xigbar said. "We knew it was getting bad when he tried to attack Xaldin."

"Xaldin could stand to have some pain, though." Axel said. "So where is he? Can I see him?"

"In Havoc's Divide and yes." Xigbar said. "We just wanted to let you know what was going on."

"It's not like I _wanted_ to be gone for two months." Axel said defensively.

"We know, we know." Demyx said. "Just go see him, okay? He's been wanting to see you for quite a long time."

"You already informed Xemnas about the mission, right?" Xigbar clarified.

"Right when I got back." Axel said.

"Okay, then." Xigbar said. "I'll go make sure that Larxene isn't trying to destroy Ruin and Creation's Passage. She's been wanting to do that for a while."

"I'll go!" Demyx grinned, running after the Free Shooter.

Once Demyx and Xigbar left, Axel made his way to Havoc's Divide where he found Roxas curled up in a ball on the floor. Every now and then, he'd twitch slightly, as if he was suffering from withdrawal of some sort.

"Roxas…" Axel said as he slowly walked over to the blonde neophyte.

Roxas' body tensed, as though he was expecting someone to attack him. He didn't turn around to see who had called him, but was trying to figure out why that voice sounded so familiar.

When Axel reached him, he pulled his boyfriend up to a sitting position and turned him around so Axel could see his face. He could immediately tell what Roxas had been through while he was gone. Roxas' cerulean eyes were no longer filled with eagerness and excitement. They had been replaced with agony, confusion and despair.

"Oh my God, Roxas." Axel said as he pulled the neophyte toward him. "I had no idea what this was doing to you."

Somewhere in Roxas' mind, something clicked. The voice, the smell of fire on the cloak, the peridot eyes… it was Axel.

Instantaneously, Roxas reached up and pressed his lips to Axel's, which Axel wasn't expecting. It wasn't Roxas' usual kiss. It was a kiss that said, "Why didn't you come back?" and "I missed you. Don't leave me again."

"I'm sorry, Roxas." Axel said, breaking the kiss.

"Where were you?" Roxas demanded. "You never came back."

"Things happened that turned a weeklong mission into a two month-long mission." Axel said. "If I had known that you were suffering, I would have come straight back."

"I need you, Axel." Roxas said as he snuggled against Axel's chest, smelling the familiar smoke from Axel's fire.

"I'm here." Axel assured him. "I'll always be here."

**I hope it wasn't too sappy. And I hope I got all the info right. I've only played CoM, but I know a lot of what happened in I and II. If you liked this, then you might like the chapter in TSTNW. I think it's chapter 31. anyway, reviews equal love! thanks for reading!**


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